The museum houses a paleo-Christian basilica from the end of the 4th century, situated above several martyr tombs. It has a projecting semicircular apse, a rectangular naos divided into three naves by individual pillars, that used to support, in the vertical part of the edifice, a wooden ridged roof, covered by gutter tiles. It had no narthex, instead it used to have pilasters fastened at the south ends of the lateral valves, in order to sustain some transversal archways, and compartmentalized the interior space of the lateral naves, on both sides of the entrance to the central nave, a wide entrance situated on the apse axis. In the central zone of the apse, under the altar pavement, there is a monumental martyr crypt, completely buried, housing a group of four martyrs at the upper part of the martyrion - Zotikos, Attalos, Camasis and Philippos, and two martyrs on the lower level, that originate in an earlier martyr tomb. The martyrion at Niculiţel is a unique monument in Europe. The protecting edifice creates an elegant, aired and pleasant interior. The perimetral gallery destined to the inflow of visitors ensures a permanent visual contact with the monument, and the permanent exhibition of paleo-Christian artefacts, colour photographs and slides complete the museum collection.
The discovery of the monument is due to torrential rain in the spring of 1971 that uncovered a part of the crypt cupola. As it is in a sloping position, in an inhabited area, and at a crossroads, the monument needed to be long studied during the years 1971, 1975, 1985 and 1994.